‘Hungry Women’
Known for her savvy, Tony-nominated take on Little Red Riding Hood in “Into the Woods,” Julia Lester stars in the world premiere of this feminist dark comedy about a postpatriarchal world, in which men have gone extinct. Written by Melissa Maney and directed by Daniella Caggiano, with a cast that includes Zoe Dean, Mariyea and Sophie Zmorrod. (Through Aug. 30, SoHo Playhouse)
‘Knockouts’
Bridget Everett and Patti LuPone share the tiny Joe’s Pub stage with a band in this concert reading of a new work, written by Everett, Isaac Oliver, Marc Shaiman, Rachel Shukert and Scott Wittman, and created in collaboration with LuPone. Its fleeting run is sold out, but a TodayTix lottery offers a glint of hope. If you do get in, you’ll be popping your phone into a Yondr pouch for the duration. Teddy Bergman and Wittman direct. (Through Aug. 2, Joe’s Pub)
Matchbook Fest
This fledgling summer festival presents concert evenings (Andrew Lippa, Aug. 3; Joe Iconis, Aug. 10; Zack Zadek, Aug. 17) and works at assorted stages of development, including Bryce Pinkham, Zack Fine and Rona Siddiqui’s solo musical “Father Time,” about new parenthood (Aug. 1-2); Charlie Oh’s voluminously titled “it’s like an amazing time to be alive right now (!) or, The Crypto Play” (Aug. 5); and Caroline Kingsley’s “Precursula,” a “Little Mermaid” variation starring Alex Moffat (Aug. 21). (Through Aug. 21, Greenwich House Theater)
‘The Pass’
When this play by John Donnelly made its premiere in London in 2014, John Tiffany directed Russell Tovey in the principal role of Jason, a closeted British footballer. Now Max Hunter directs the American premiere, starring Matisse Ratron-Neal as Jason, whom we see ascend to the heights of sports-world fame from the time he is 17 until he is 29. With Terry Bell, Ino Badanjak and Oliver Rowland-Jones. (Through Sept. 4, La MaMa)
‘The Vessel’
Amid the gleaming towers of Hudson Yards in Manhattan, Thomas Heatherwick’s mammoth “Vessel” is a climbable, honeycomb-shaped tourist attraction with a past marred by a series of visitor suicides and consequent shutdowns. Those events inspired this play by Brendan George, which centers on three minimum-wage employees who work in the shadow of the “Vessel.” Peter Charney directs. (Through Aug. 23, 59E59 Theaters)
‘We’ve Been Here Before: A One-Woman Musical’
It isn’t often that a pop star music-directs an Off Broadway production, let alone performs onstage in it, but that’s what Ben Folds is doing with this show. Written by and starring the actor Lindsey Kraft, it’s a tale of music-making midlife discovery. Machel Ross and Kraft direct. (Aug. 4-17, SoHo Playhouse)
‘Brooklyn’s Bridge’
Faithful viewers of the HBO glamour-soap “The Gilded Age” will recall a Season 2 plot strand involving Emily Warren Roebling, who served as the surrogate for her husband, the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, while he was ill for years during its construction. Now the story of her life has spawned this new musical, with a score by Joseph Baker and a book and lyrics by Ray Roderick, who also directs. (Aug. 7-23, the Space at Irondale)
‘Isla’
This collaboratively created coming-of-age story by Hit the Lights! Company is based on the family of the company member Samantha Blain, which emigrated from Cuba to Miami in the 1960s. The production incorporates a Latin jazz-flavored score and documentary interviews with Blain’s mother and aunts as well as physical design that uses shadow puppetry. Blain, a cast member, plays her own aunt. (Aug. 8-29, WP Theater)
‘The Whole Sky All Diamonds’
As immersive-theater marketing descriptions go, it is an admirably clear warning: “You won’t watch this play,” the website for this show intones. “You’ll work in it.” But first you’ll undergo employee orientation and training. Written by Bixby Elliot (“The Five-Star Weekend”) and directed by Jack Dentinger, this is a new comedy set in the office of a tech company on the verge of a merger. Disillusionment and disconnection are involved, as are hints of Chekhov. (Aug. 12-22, Loft Story)
‘The Bathroom Attendant’
You can practically feel the dark grittiness of this comic thriller by Tom Kelly, in which a pair of Las Vegas neighbors, a former fighter and an ex-porn star, get a visit from a young man who makes them an offer. Alcohol, betrayal and a combustible evening ensue. Andrew Block directs the world premiere. (Aug. 13-30, 124 Bank Street Theater)
‘benevolent’
The fictional Inwood Benevolent Home, a harsh reformatory for girls in Upper Manhattan, is the setting of this new play by Sophie McIntosh (“macbitches”), which follows four young residents of the home in 1917, doing laundry together in the basement. Unwanted pregnancy figures in the plot. Nina Goodheart directs the world premiere. (Aug. 14-Sept. 5, IATI Theater)
‘Michael R. Jackson: Wake Up Call’
Michael R. Jackson, who won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for his Tony-winning musical “A Strange Loop,” performs a cabaret evening of songs old and new, from his back catalog (“White Girl in Danger,” “Teeth”) and his work-in-progress musical, “Subscribers.” (Aug. 16-17, Joe’s Pub)
‘The Real Ivanov’
Comedy meets despondency in Laura Strausfeld’s much-streamlined adaptation of Chekhov’s play, starring Sam Underwood as the dispirited, 30-something Nikolai Ivanov. Strausfeld directs an ensemble that includes Hagan Oliveras (“Jonah”) as Chekhov’s requisite physician. (Aug. 17-Sept. 19, Lynn F. Angelson Theater)
‘To Have and to Hold’
Tedra Millan (“Leopoldstadt”) plays the about-to-wed Bianca alongside Laura Lapidus as her firmly anti-marriage sister, Kate, in this new comedy of siblinghood and coupledom, a riff of sorts on “The Taming of the Shrew.” Yuriy Sardarov (“Chicago Fire”) plays Peter, the hot guy who turns Kate’s head. Lapidus is the playwright; Zoë Adams directs. (Aug. 21-Sept. 12, Chashama’s 154 Theater)
‘Marina’
The Whitney Biennial comes to Little Island with this world-premiere production, conceived by Julio Torres (“Color Theories”) and the artist Martine Gutierrez. Written and directed by Torres, it stars Gutierrez in the tile role of a New York “seawench” whose underwater life becomes connected with the surface world after she discovers a phone that was flung into the sea. The cast includes the comedian and drag artist Spike Einbinder, sibling to Hannah. (Aug. 27-30, the Amph)
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